Comforting Thoughts About Death That Have Nothing to Do with God

"In this book Greta Christina tackles the subject of death with the insight of a philosopher and the relaxed candor of a friend — that really cool, intelligent friend who understands and cares."
-David Niose, author of Fighting Back the Right: Reclaiming America from the Attack on Reason

Comforting Thoughts About Death That Have Nothing to Do with God by Greta Christina -- available now!

Coming Out Atheist

“"Witty, wise, helpful, and humane, this clear and engaging book is most timely.”
-Phil Zuckerman, Ph.D., author of Faith No More: Why People Reject Religion

Coming Out Atheist: How to Do It, How to Help Each Other, and Why by Greta Christina -- available now in ebook, print, and audiobook!

I Support Atheism Plus!

Atheists plus we care about social justice.
Atheists plus we support women’s rights.
Atheists plus we protest racism.
Atheists plus we fight homophobia and transphobia.
Atheists plus we use critical thinking and skepticism.

Don’t just say it on Twitter, or on Facebook, or on blog comments, or even on your own blog. Say it to the people who can do something about it. If you’ve already said something on some other forum, please copy and paste it, edit as appropriate, and send it to the CFI Board of Directors.

The CFI Board of Directors can be emailed via the Corporate Secretary, Tom Flynn, at tflynn@centerforinquiry.net. They can also be reached by snail mail, at:

The CFI Board of Directors, as posted on the CFI website, are: R. Elisabeth Cornwell, Kendrick Frazier, Barry Kosmin, Richard Schroeder, Eddie Tabash (Chair, Board of Directors), Jonathan Tobert, Leonard Tramiel, and Judith Walker. Their email addresses are not posted on the CFI website: if you already have contact information for these individuals, it would be awesome to go the extra mile and contact them directly. However, if you don’t, please don’t let that stop you: just email tflynn@centerforinquiry.net, and/or send snail mail to Center for Inquiry Board of Directors, PO Box 741, Amherst, NY 14226-0741.

If you don’t know what I’m talking about, and need some background, here are some links. I will almost certainly weigh on on this sometime soon: for right now, these folks have said much or most of what I want to say.

If you have something to say — please say it to the people who can do something about it. That contact info again: The CFI Board of Directors can be emailed via tflynn@centerforinquiry.net. They can also be reached by snail mail, at:

Comments

Seriously, though, I hope they do something here. Even something as simple as a sincere, unqualified apology from Lindsay would probably go far. They don’t seem to get that all we need (I think) is an admittance that what he did was wrong, and that he recognizes that. Then, he can work on learning a bit more about how to be more of an ally in the future.

I called CFI earlier today to get the information on where to send my letters. I plan to send by the end of the day. I made a large donation to CFI earmarked for WiS. Was planning to make another one at the conference but am holding off until I see the response to this.

Liz Cornwell is on the board of CFI. Huh. Explains a lot, really. Like how someone so appalingly arrogant, inexcusably uninformed, and inconsistent to the point of incoherence had a prominent role at WiS2.

And for those who disagree with your assertion that his speech and comments were insulting and contemptuous? I assume you want us to shut up, which, of course, only reinforces Lindsay’s point.

This post, along with the others you have mentioned, are a reminder of why many of us stopped frequenting FreeThought blogs and distanced ourselves from atheism+. Your approach here is not unlike Christian Fundamentalists who see a conspiracy and an attack every time someone disagrees with them.

And for those who disagree with your assertion that his speech and comments were insulting and contemptuous? I assume you want us to shut up, which, of course, only reinforces Lindsay’s point.

What an asinine assumption. I’ll buy you the stamp and mail it for you if that’s what it takes, just so you know you’re not being silenced. Unless you think the feminists have invaded our postal system and hacked CFI’s email server, I see no attempt to silence you.

There they go again, attributing magic powers to feminists. No one is silencing you Bruce. Run along and send ‘em all the letters of your own you want.

Many people consider there is ample evidence Lindsay, at a minimum, acted unprofessionally in undermining his own employees and organisation he represents and reviewing corporate leadership decisions is one of the duties of a board of directors. This isn’t actually controversial.

Seriously, Bruce, do you have to work really really hard at being incoherent, or does it come naturally?

I note for the record that you posted ON FtB. Meaning that you haven’t even been silenced here. Though like others, I wish you would take your free speech right and exercise it where the sun don’t shine.

Also, one of the themes of Dr Lindsay’s talk was that it was wrong for the voice of women to be silenced and their concerns ignored. If we are to take him at his word, shouldn’t he welcome this feedback?

@Bruce
Although from the Tone of Greta’s post it is reasonable to infer she is expecting people to agree with her and mail criticism, not only does she not explicitly say this, she doesn’t have the means to stop letters of support.
A bit like when PZ Myers Pharyngulates a poll.

Also, one of the themes of Dr Lindsay’s talk was that it was wrong for the voice of women to be silenced and their concerns ignored. If we are to take him at his word, shouldn’t he welcome this feedback?

Yes, RL made the claim that he did not object to listening, that his objection to the statement “shut up and listen” was only to the “shut up” part.

I just got back from running errands, including dropping off my over two-page letter to the CFI Board. Had to drive twenty whole miles to find a Post Office with Sunday hours. I even used a Maria Goeppert-Mayer postage stamp to illustrate my dedication to the cause of feminism, or to illustrate that I way way overthought this. I’m a member of CFI, so the letter might even make a teeny tiny difference. Fingers crossed. Thanks for posting the address, Greta!

If anyone is wondering what to write, I just fired this off to Tom Flynn (warning: it’s loooong):

I’d like to begin by thanking Ron Lindsay for his apology. The
comparison of Rebecca Watson to North Korea and the insinuation she
wanted Lindsay off the stage for being a “white male” were deplorable,
and it led me to write this:

“This is not professional conduct, Lindsay. You’ve done a remarkable
amount of damage to the CFI brand in the span of two days, and you would
be wise to step down immediately to help repair the damage.”

So by striking those from the record, he has done some damage control.

I am still calling for him to resign, however. Even without the issues
of tone, there are still large problems with his speech, and his
response to the feedback on his speech. For instance:

– None of the evidence he provided supports the assertion that privilege
is used to silence. I read through all his examples, and every person who
“shut up and listened” was thankful for the experience. They realized they
had been silencing others through their speech and privilege, by
perpetuating mischaracterizations and misunderstandings, and were now
better people for it. Lindsay must have invented that claim.

– Lindsay’s discussion of feminism and A+ read like poisoning the well. He
continually asserts confusion and doubt; I count sixteen questions related
to both in a half hour speech, some of which are misleading (“And who
decides what’s included within the scope of social justice anyway?”), some
of which answers itself (“CFI or the AHA think […] they’re combining
atheism with activism on selected social justice issues.” to “how should
secular organizations, including any organization that styles itself as an
Atheist+ group, set their priorities?”). He uses the term
“sister-punishers” as if it was common in feminist circles, when a quick
Google search shows there are far more people wagging their fingers about
the term than actually using it. The comparisons to “dogma,” the
concession that privilege “has some validity,” and other word choices
reveal a subtext of dismissal, even as Lindsay claims to support feminism.

– He also thought it was wise to lecture to feminists about feminism, a
topic he demonstrably knows little about. This is the very epitome of
“mansplaining.”

Now, I could forgive the massive gaff if he engaged in honest debate
and listened to his critics. Lindsay himself ends the speech with “I
look forward to the conversation.” Instead, he has refused to do so:

“As to my May 17 talk, I have nothing to say. The CFI board will decide
whether my talk was contemptuous of women, as some have alleged,
misrepresented CFI’s commitment to women’s rights, or in some way
committed CFI to a course of action inconsistent with CFI’s mission.”

Worse, he has created a standoff. By going silent and refusing to
dialog, the board is stuck with only two choices; retain Lindsay, and
signal to his critics that CFI management endorses this ill-advised
speech, or fire Lindsay, the president who they’ve known and become
friends with over the years. I do not envy the board’s position, but I
must press the obvious: if Lindsay will not step down, he needs to be
removed to limit the damage to CFI. I know people who work and
volunteer in the Canadian branch of CFI, who have little to do with
their American parent, and I read the blogs of good, hard-working
helpers and employees of the parent branch; all of them have been
tainted by Lindsay’s speech, and none of them deserve it.

I repeat: if Lindsay does not step down, he should be removed for the
sake of CFI.